Trust Me
by WolfieStar
Summary: After being sent on a mission, Reno goes missing on a dangerous island off of Wutai. Everyone thinks he is dead. But one believes he's alive, injured even and needing help from a friend. Could she be right? Set after Advent Children. RenoxTifa
1. Chapter 1

**This is my first Final Fantasy VII story, so please be nice and critique, it really helps.**

**Takes place after Advent Children.**

* * *

Reno's fingers toyed with the main control, lazily he looked out the window as he crossed over enemy lines. He blinked his aquamarine eyes and yawned slightly as he heard the hum of the propeller above him. Leaning against the uncomfortable leather chair, he shut his eyes for a few moments.

"Reno! Quit fooling around!" the quick voice of Elena blared through his headset, making him groan slightly. The red headed Turk chuckled slightly, adjusting the head set with one hand and steering with the other. "Just finish this mission and we can all go home."

"Geez Elena, I wasn't doing anything. Must you deafen me?" Reno rolled his eyes, turning the helicopter towards the abandoned Island off of Wutai. Being the best helicopter pilot of the Turks, he had obviously been chosen to go on this highly dangerous mission to find out information about stolen Shinra technology. He took this as a challenge, and was actually excited for it. Though, he had mixed feelings since Rude didn't have to go. Almost as it he were bait. There was something fishy about it, but if he had announced that before going, Tseng would have him for it.

"Reno stop it!" Elena snapped. "Watch yourself. There's been many cases of disappearances at that island."

"So you're sending me?" he grunted. "Nice to feel welcomed. And does this island even have a name?"

"It's abandoned Reno, it has no name."

"Aww, now that's just not-" he was suddenly cut off as a creature body slammed the outside of the flying vehicle, making a large dent and throwing it off balance. Reno yelled out an stream of curses and attempted to get it leveled again. "Dammit!"

"Reno, what's wrong?" Elena yelled loudly, her voice cracking slightly.

"Call for backup, I - aaaggh!" Reno screamed as the creature ripped the door open with its leathery clawed hand, and tried to pluck the assassin right out of his seat. In just a few seconds his attitude changed like the tide, and he could hear Elena screaming on the other end.

"Reno! Reno!" Elena cried loudly, and he could hear tears in her voice. "Get out of there!"

She heard a crack as the line dropped dead, but before it had been broken, the blood curdling of her colleague ran through her ears. The blond forgot all her training as she cried his name repeatedly, tears running down her cheeks.

*******To Be Continued**


	2. Chapter 2

**I'm terribly sorry for short chapters, but I'm trying to test out writing for a new fandom little by little, so hopefully things'll get interesting and longer now that most of the boring begginning stuff is out of the way.**

* * *

"Tifa! Tifa!" Marlene cried, pulling at the barmaid's clothing. Tifa blinked and stared down at the little girl, pushing the glasses away from the edge. An angry scowl formed on her face. "Cloud still isn't home yet."

"I'm sorry Marlene. A delivery must be running late." Tifa sighed, staring at the clock. He was an hour late. "Where could he be?" she mumbled to herself.

"He promised Tifa! He promised that he would be home in time to help me with my project for school!"

"I'm sorry Marlene. I can help you-"

"But I want Cloud to! He promised!" the usually mature six year old was now on the verge of tears. She had a close bond with the exSOLDIER, and it seemed strange that the usual closed up Cloud Strife would crumple his walls for the small girl. Truly it was an astonishing relationship, even Tifa was surprised.

"Alright, I'll call him." Tifa sighed, Marlene finally twisting her leg enough. Marlene smiled proudly, and ran back to her room where Denzel was so they could play. Tifa rolled her eyes when she heard Denzel complaining about Marlene always invading his privacy.

The brunette sighed, leaning against the wall with her cell phone in hand. Even after the Geostigma incident, that blonde was still the same Cloud he always was. Pressing the phone to her ear, she counted the rings, and after the seventh, expected voicemail, but to her surprise, Cloud answered.

"_Tifa_." his soft yet monotone voice spoke on the other end.

"You're late." she responded, looking at the dishtowel on the counter to focus herself.

"_I know, but Shinra called_." was all he said, and there was crackling at the other end. "_Apparently one of their prized Turks went missing_."

"Who?" Tifa couldn't help but ask, her fingers curling tighter around the technology.

"_Reno apparently_."

There was an awkward silence, until Tifa choked out, "R-Reno? What happened Cloud? And why did Rufus call you?"

"_Reno went on a dangerous mission, and wasn't paying attention. Some kind of new creature attacked the helicopter, but they can't find his body. Think he might be alive. So they needed my help to prove it_."

"What did you say?"

"_No_."

Another silence.

"Maybe Reno is still alive Cloud."

"_It's for them to figure out. Elena is hysterical, Rude is in shock, and Tseng . . . He wouldn't be much help is all I can say_."

"They're desperate . . ." Tifa muttered, lowering her head. "We should do something Cloud. The Turks did help us when the Geostigma cropped up."

"_But what can we do? The planet is still healing. We can't take a chance. There's a reason Reno died_." Cloud took a deep breath. "_And personally I don't want to find that reason_."

"But Cloud-"

"_No Tifa_." Cloud answered firmly. "_I'm coming home. I'm keeping my promise with Marlene." _the phone clicked off, leaving Tifa hanging.

"Oh Cloud . . ." Tifa murmured, staring at the floor.

* * *

The Shinra office building was different from usual, yet the same. Only the Turks that were closet to the red head mourned his supposed death, yet the rest, some that even knew him, when on their way as usual. Elena, having heard his death, was taking it the hardest, Rude had to calm her down, and it was all very awkward for the strong and silent man. Tseng was off doing his own thing, but it unmistakable that he was shaking and tears were streaming down his face at times. They never thought that he would cry over a comrade's death. And some looked over his shoulder, and noticed he was researching about the island and planning to send someone to see if he was alive.

"Tifa?" Tseng wiped his face and looked up at her, blinking the rest of the tears out of his eyes. "What are you doing here? It's a bad time."

The brunette shook her head. "I know. But, since Cloud is refusing to help, I thought I would. Reno is possibly still alive."

"How did Cloud get word of Reno's death?" Tseng narrowed his eyes. "He only went missing less than twenty four hours ago."

"Rufus called him." Tifa replied, eyeing the office. Only three people seemed to be affected, the rest were either going on with their thing, or joking about his death.

"We don't need help."

"We worked together only recently for the Geostigma incident. And if Cloud won't help, I will."

"Tifa-"

"Get back to me then." with the message received, she turned her heal towards the exit and left. Tseng blinked, thinking maybe this was the chance. Rufus should be informed.

*******To Be Continued**


	3. Chapter 3

"Tifa Lockhart came to us not to long ago president." Tseng announced to him as he locked the door and looked to his president, sitting quietly in his wheelchair. Rufus made no move to signal his worker that he heard, instead he continued to stare at the wall under the sheet. Even after the Geostigma, he still refused to take it off. It was odd really.

"What did she want?" he murmured finally, turning his head towards him.

"Cloud refused to assist us, but apparently Tifa found out and agreed to help us if needed. Though, what can she do that Mr. Strife couldn't?"

"Ms. Lockhart is a strong woman." Rufus mumbled, staring out the window of his office now. "She was high up in AVALANCHE, remember? She has some skills worthwhile Tseng."

"We don't know if we can trust her President. Cloud helped us-"

"That was before." Rufus cut him off sharply. "He only helped because he had a person at home with the disease, and he himself was ill. Now he doesn't have a reason."

"Tifa doesn't either." Tseng mumbled under his breath.

"That is because she is a naturally kindhearted person." Rufus replied, having heard him. The president's eye looked at him from under the sheet with a knowing look. "Someone willing to find out if Reno Sinclair is alive just came to us on a silver platter and you shunned her away.

"Tseng, get Tifa back here." Rufus ordered, the familiar glint in his eyes returning.

Tseng nodded, then bowed slightly. "Of course president."

The brunette carefully unlocked the doors of her bar, and slipped in slowly, wary to not make a sound. Her spiky haired blonde Cloud Strife was likely to be wondering of where she was. Of course, having gone unexpectedly and leaving the children home alone had made her guilty of her actions, but something in her gut told her to go to Shinra. Something inside her seemed to shatter at the hearing of Reno being possibly dead, a feeling clicked in, one that she wasn't familiar with and thus she couldn't identify.

Tifa didn't bother turning on the lights in the kitchen, so blundering blindly in the darkness, she begged that she wouldn't bang into a bar stool and send metal clanging in the black. Almost there, she was past the counter, she just had to get to the stairs and . . .

"Where were you?"

Tifa froze, turning her head slightly to see the other adult of the house, his light hair glowing in the dark room. The look in his Mako blue eyes was unreadable, making Tifa take a few steps back. She blinked, waiting for him to make a move, then remembered it was her turn to speak, to answer the question that broke the ice.

"Sh-Shinra Building." Tifa stuttered, her eyes as wide as saucers. Cloud still did not move, he didn't even blink.

"Didn't I say that I didn't want to get involved?" his voice was ice cold, eye becoming slits as he glared at the barmaid.

"You aren't the boss of me or what I do." Tifa snapped, then covered her mouth slightly with her hand when she realized what she had spat out.

Cloud raised an eyebrow. "Is that what you believe? I have more experience with that company than you do. I know what they do to you. Do you think they would simply ask for a favor? Is there prove that Reno really did die? Did you happen to stop to think that this could all be an act? This all could be a trap! Did you think about this _at all_?"

His voice had risen from a stern whisper to an angry growl, his hands curling into fists. Without hesitation he took a step towards Tifa, his eyes flaring. She could tell he was enraged, and he was going to take it out on her. The options to either defend herself or fight back was biting at her, and she was confused. This was Cloud, but he was dangerous when angry, and that applied to now.

"Cloud, no need to overreact. I can handle myself, don't you think?" her own hands became fists as she held her ground.

"I don't want them to kill you!" he growled, surprising Tifa. He stood his own ground on his beliefs.

"I want to do this. You know it's not like me to leave someone when they need my help." she glared at him, then turned around swiftly, but threw over her shoulder, "I'm helping them, even if it kills you inside."

With the message sent and hopefully received, she exited the bar as her cell phone rang, leaving a stunned Cloud.

"Do we know what we're doing president?" Rude had risen the first question during the meeting between the four of them. Only he, Elena, Tseng, and the president himself were permitted to come, and it was very obvious that it was to decide what was being done about Reno's death and Tifa wanting to help them. "A well thought out plan is needed."

"Tseng should've called Ms. Lockhart by now." Rufus answered, the life coming back into him as he thought of Tifa assisting his company to find the missing Turk. Looking to the reliable employee, he smiled slightly when Tseng nodded. "Good, we just wait for arrival."

"Then what?" Elena blurted out from her seat next to Rude.

"We send her to where Reno went missing, but we do it by ground. Simply, she searches for his body."

The meeting became eerily silent, Rude and Tseng exchanging glances every so often. Elena couldn't sit still, jittery and shaking in her seat next to Rude. Her eyes kept flickering around her colleagues, stopping every so often at the missing red head's.

"President, what if Reno is alive?" Tseng finally choked out, blinking quickly. It was highly unlike him to freak out, but Reno was second in command, right below him. He felt a certain kinship to him.

"Then she brings him back to headquarters." Rufus mumbled, zoning out again. "We've lost Shinra employees before, no need to cry about this one. If she finds him, she finds him."

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**Please Rate and Review. Critiques and suggestions are welcomed and appreciated.**


	4. Chapter 4

It was all a blur in those next hours to Tifa. Time seemed to spur past her as she stared out the window of the Shinra helicopter, Rude next to her as he drove the large flying aircraft. She clutched her seat tightly, looking at the ground below them. She could see the faint remains of Reno's own helicopter, and she briefly wondered what she had gotten herself into.

She glanced at Rude, who appeared to be a statue. But, it wasn't that surprising, maybe he wasn't used to driving a helicopter since Reno always volunteered too. Or else this was his way of mourning, ignoring the depths of life. It was possible this was his method of facing the grief head on. Or maybe she was putting far too much thought into this.

"Here." he murmured finally, landing the copter about three miles away from the crash site. Quietly he opened the door of the copter, ready to usher her out. "If you see any sign of him, call Shinra immediately, understood?"

Tifa merely nodded, starting to feel herself shake in anticipation. She didn't understand if this was a mission or a favor, but either way, she wanted to help Reno. Something snapped in her heart when she heard, and she was determined to do anything to make sure that there is a possibility he could still be living.

Rude shut the door, the propeller moving fast again as he was lifted off of the ground. Tifa's eyes followed the copter as it's form disappeared. For a few seconds she stood there, watching the water, unsure of what to do. Shinra wasn't very clear, only ordering her to find clues of Reno's existence. They haven't even searched his helicopter to see if his corpse was present. She shivered at the thought. Now she understood why they wanted Cloud, he had seen a dead body a few times.

Slowly she forced her feet to move towards the rubble of metal off of the cliff. Not much remained, only the main hub of the vehicle. The propeller, tail, and part of one door was completely gone, the rest in pieces and appearing to be chewed on. How could a human survive something like that?

Tifa looked around her. Trees shaded the island from an immense amount of sunlight, being used as Nature's canopy. Water lapped calmly at the cliff, occasionally hitting her with a cool spray. Wildflowers grew in bunches near the greenery. Truly it seemed to be a beautiful place, not somewhere to hide a body.

Quickly she easily jumped down towards the wreck of the helicopter, and slowly walked towards it. Gravel shifted under her feet, and she got nervous that maybe it was too unsteady for her weight. But she still carefully inched over to the scene.

Her hands went to the ripped up metal, and she heaved as she pried it away from the main hub. Pieces of loose metal fell away from it, broken off at the impact. She pulled harder so she would have enough room to slip in. Eventually the door gave way, falling away and Tifa had to jump away for she would be trapped underneath if she had not moved it.

Tifa took a deep breath, wary to see what would be inside. She carefully looked inside, and gasped.

* * *

**Very sorry about the shortness of the chapter. Wanted to leave a cliffhanger yet show that I haven't forgotten about this story.**


	5. Chapter 5

He could hear them. Their voices were a whisper, yet pounding in his head. He drifted, in and out of consciousness. There was no pain. He didn't feel anything. He couldn't even tell if he was awake or dead. Was this hell? This scared him. Was this his punishment for Sector 7? Secretly, he was afraid of hell. But, he couldn't get a better job that pays as good. He was second in command, so he took some pride. Was it because of his small amount of pride he was now living in hell?

There was a gasp, from who he couldn't comprehend. Was it that voice he kept hearing? He was terribly weak, and couldn't move. If he could hear voices he must be alive. Or completely insane.

A hand touched his back, and suddenly he felt searing pain coarse throughout his body. He opened his mouth to scream in agony, but no sound was emitted. His eyes opened wide in his mind, but physically they stayed shut. Frantically his breathing quickened, finding it harder and harder to take a breath.

Now there was two hands. What was going on? They were touching him and examining his broken body. They hurt. He attempted to break free, but his body wouldn't respond. He wouldn't let his panic settle in, but his training was slowly becoming forgotten. His muscles wouldn't obey his commands, and he felt frightened that he would become a victim to these mysterious hands.

Even though his body ached and screamed with pain, it was not because of the hand's touch, he realized.

The voices were returning, but he could tell they were pained and scared. Over what though? He couldn't comprehend that. Over him possibly? Impossible. He was not fret over since the tragedy at Sector Seven he caused. No one cared about him. Most wanted him dead.

Fingers ran themselves through his hair. Something wet hit his hair and ran down his scalp. He opened his mouth, and screamed with all his might, begging that the hands would hear him.

It worked.

His eyes snapped open and he screamed again with the pain. Pain was everywhere. Pain was in his chest, arms, head, legs, everywhere. But it was overwhelmingly strong in his chest, and somewhere else. It was more of a numb feeling then a pained feeling. But it was still uncomfortable.

"Reno!"

_That voice!_

"Reno, can you hear me?"

_Yes, yes I can! But who are you? Where are you, yo?_

"Blink, talk to me, anything!"

_Blink!_ He remembered that. He knew how to blink. Carefully he opened and closed his eyes, though it was far too blurry for him. He couldn't see anything, or know who was the owner of the hands. Was it that that was causing him so much pain?

He felt like he was fading again, but he refused to fall into the void of unconsciousness again. That voice was nearby again, willing him to stay awake. But it was getting too difficult.

Suddenly arms were around his waist, lifting him up and carefully dragging him along the broken floor of cold concrete. Then he was falling into hard ground, making him grimace and moan weakly, begging this angel heard him. Was this rough treatment due to him going to hell? Was a demon taking him down to hell? He got scared again and attempted to thrash, but he felt like his muscles were dead. Now they weren't moving at all.

"Hang on Reno, hang on." the voice whispered. Now he could detect that it was feminine. Would a demon be a female? Maybe it's an angel. No, that couldn't be. "I didn't expect to find you this quickly."

He couldn't respond.

His angel halted, gripping him tightly. A gunshot rang out, but from his experience, he knew for a fact it was a good distance away. Of course others would be wary. He was used to it, so he had no need to be afraid.

"Maybe the gun shots angered that monster that attacked your helicopter Reno." she remarked, making his brain attempt to remember what happened. All he remembered was flying a helicopter and then darkness. What was she talking about? "Just hang on a bit longer, alright?"

_Hang on for what? Who are you anyways? Are you really an angel yo?_

_She didn't move much, then she was speaking, but not to him. "Rude! Come back already! I found him quick! …yes Reno is alive, but barely! Hurry."_

_He suddenly became very afraid as Darkness consumed his consciousness. What was worse was that he couldn't move at all. No pain, he couldn't even feel his legs. With no choice of his own, he slipped into unconsciousness._


	6. Chapter 6

"Ms. Lockhart, Reno Sinclair has broken, or rather crushed, his pelvis. He cracked two vertebrae, and both hips are broken, as well as vertical cracks in both femurs. He had also gotten a concussion, and whiplash from the jerking motion of the crash." the doctor sighed, moving his glasses back up the bridge of his nose. Brushing graying hair out of his face, he purposely ignored the shock and distress the women possessed.

"Wha…no!" Tifa cried, shuddering slightly. "I didn't know it was that bad!"

The doctor still didn't focus his eyes on her. Instead he continued skimming the folder. "There was internal damage to his blood vessels, and we're pumping fresh blood into him as quickly as possible. You brought him in at the right time, he would had bled to death internally if you hadn't rescued him."

Though the thought didn't settle Tifa. Her heart was racing as she tried to absorb all that had happened in the past few hours. Because he really was only in the helicopter the whole time, he was quickly rescued. Yet, why hadn't ShinRa checked there in the first place? And when Rude had arrived, they hadn't even acted quickly to save him until they arrived at the hospital. It was all confusing, too many questions were arising.

"Can I visit him?" Tifa asked before thinking, not realizing what she had said.

"I'm sorry, but not yet." the doctor remarked, finally looking at her. "We haven't had a full examination yet."

"But you're going to fix him, right?" Tifa begged, her voice coming out to a squeak. "I mean, you'll set his bones right and he'll be fine, up and walking and loitering at my bar again, and-"

"Oh yes, about that." he breathed out. "The damage done to his spine, hips, and legs are unable to heal correctly. We could possibly correct the problem with more operations as time goes on, but it can never completely heal. Reno will never walk again."

Tifa heart broke as she completely fell apart, leaning on her knees as she buried her face in her hands. She wept weakly, feeling completely defeated. Reno would lose his job, there was no doubt about that. She didn't know if he enjoyed his job or not, but it would crush him. He likely had no where to go, and Shinra wouldn't help him now that he was useless in their eyes.

There was a loud beeping from the doctor's beeper, ripping her out of her thoughts. She picked her head up, seeing the doctor quickly read it and run back to the room where Reno was. Tifa jumped up, intending to follow him.

"Doctor-" Tifa cried.

"I have to go, Reno's having a seizure and the nurses don't know why."

* * *

"How much Mako is in Reno's body?" a nurse whispered to Tseng over the phone as he sat in his office. He leaned forward in his chair, brushing his brows.

"Why is this a concern of yours? He isn't SOLDIER."

"Yes, but I do understand that ShinRa recently started giving their employees doses of Mako for private reasons. His condition may worsen depending on how much Mako is in his system. You understand that don't you Tseng?"

Tseng didn't answer, so the nurse on the other line took that as a yes. "The Mako in his body will react and may disrupt his brain. He could receive massive brain damage in his condition, making it almost impossible to make a full recovery. Just tell us how much you gave him, so we can make arrangements."

The businessman clutched the phone tightly, his eyes narrowing in thought. Weighing his options, his eyes darted to the folder holding Reno Sinclair's information, and the 'END' button on the phone. After nearly a minute, he hung up the phone.

Leaning on the desk, he breathed deeply. Not over stress of his employee's condition, but of the fact that they wanted such precious information. Reno was replaceable, he one hundred percent was in the state he was in. Which meant that they didn't need that information, Reno would be fine.

At least, his part of the company would be.


End file.
